Ashram

The abode of an ascetic or religious renunciant. The word is derived from a form of
the verb “to strive” and has several different
meanings: On one hand, an ashram is also
a place where one gives up one’s conventional worldly striving; on the other hand,
it is a place at which one can seriously
strive for spiritual goals that are often less
emphasized in the material world.
In modern Hinduism (both in India
and abroad) the word can refer to a full
spectrum of living arrangements, from
a simple hut or cave inhabited by one
person to magnificent building compounds that can house thousands of
people at a time.